Woven carrier and method of producing the same.



WOVEN M/M QVLL/Wh.

C. F. RANDALL.

BARRIER AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-5. i916.

Patentetl Jan. M, 1919.

those at present in use, requiring fewer op- 1 erations in its production and less labor and El ti Ftl tlb

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STAEPAENT unripe.

*GHdlhllldES 1E. nannant, Uh FOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, lEllZ ME'fiNE ASSIGN- lllllEllll'TS, 'ltl UNIVERSAL PATIENTS CUMPANY, F WUUNSUCKE'JE, ltHO lDlil ISLAND, a l.

COlltlEUlhltllltl-lll @F RHUJDJE ISLAND.

woven" oannrnn nnn iunrnon or rnonn'crna rnn satin.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented clan. i l, timid.

Application tiled august ti, 1916. serial No. Matti.

- a novel woven pocketed carrier, on the or der oi the cartridge carrying belts or carriers oi woven material that are employed for feeding cartridges to machine-guns but simpler in character and construction than machinery, capable oi being more rapidly manufactured, and costing much less. Carriers embodying this part of the invention are adapted especially for use as machinegun belts or carriers.

The second art of the invention consists in a: method 0 manufacture by which pocketed carriers embodying the first part of the invention may be produced on a large scale expeditiously and at low cost.

The third part of the invention consists in a carrier-web of novel character.

illustrative embodiments of the features of the invention are shown in the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a portion oi? the length of a woven pocketed carrier embodying the iirst part of the invention, with three of its loops or pockets occupied by cartridges.

Fig. 2 illustrates a carrier-web such as aforesaid. I

Figs. 3 and l are views showing on an enlarged scale the opposite edges of the carrier of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on astill larger scale showing the character oil the woven bindings of the free edges of the up per and lower layers or plies of one of the loops or pockets, at one end of such loop or pocket.

'lhe short portion of the length of a machine-gun cartridge-carrying belt or carrier 1 which is shown in Fig. 1 has within its thickness a longitudinal series of transverse openings 2, 2, etc., Figs. 3 and 4:, into which individual cartridges 5, 5, 5, Fig. i, may be slipped, point first. A machine-gun belt or carrier in its entirety is much longer than the short portion shown in Fig. 1, its full length being about 22- feet, and it has capacity for containing 250 cartridges.

lln practice heretofore, machine-gun belts or carriers composed of woven material have been made ordinarily of two separate and distinct narrow woven tapes or bands, laid face to face and fastened together by binder-strips and rivets on transverse lines, such lines being at suitable distances apart to leave between the two tapes or bands the required succession of openings to receive cartridges. The work of applying and securing the ,binderfstrips and rivets in making such belts or carriers is slow and requires special machinery, and the labor-cost 1S considerable. The cost of the separately woven tapes or bands, andot the binder-strips and rivets, is considerable, also. Consequently, the rate of productlon is slow,-and the finished article is quite expensive.

llt has been proposed to make a machinegun belt or carrier by weaving the same as an integral structure of the required width for such a belt or carrier, but omitting the characteristic features and method oi my present invention. So far as I am informed, machine-gun belts or carriers are not being made in such manner in actual practice.

Referring more explicitly to the pocketed carrier of Fig. 1, such carrier consists of an integral webetrip, of width and length suitable tor the use for which the carrier is intended, having as woven a succession of splits 2, 2, etc, Figs. 3 and 4, in its thickness. @uch splits extend transversely across the width of the web-strip, between top and bottom layers or plies 3, l, and produce loops or pockets which in the case of a ma chine-gun belt or carrier are open at both ends and are proportioned suitably to receive individual cartridges 5, 5, etc., Fig. l, but in other cases may be closed at one end. Between one split 2 and the next the top and bottom layers or plies-3, l, are united together in the weaving in the web-portions l 1, etc. lhe particular features thus far referred to are not novel.

A special feature to be observed in the case of the pocketed belt or carrier of Fig. 1 is the fact that the top and bottom layers or plies 3 and t are non-selvaged. 'lhat ltlll is to say, they do not have regular selvages produced in usual manner by returnbends of the weft-thread. Instead, they have raw or cut edges which are bound in the weaving so as to prevent fraying or raveling. This feature is a characteristic of my invention, and results from the method of manufacture which is described hereinafter with reference to Fig. 2.

The drawings show an illustrative embodiment of the edgebinding, which in this instance is similar at both margins of a belt or carrier. As represented more particularly, in Figs. 3, 4: and 5, the said edgebinding comprises two overedging or whipthreads 6, 6, at each margin, one combined with the edge of one layer or ply and the other with the corresponding edge of the other layer or ply. As shown most fully in Fig. 5, each of the said overedging or whip-threads extends transversely outward slightly past the marginal warp-thread 7 of the corresponding layer or ply, then loops around a projecting end of a weft-thread 8 of such ply, then extends inward across said marginal warphread 7 and an ad oining warp-thread, of the same ply then is engaged by interlooping with the succeeding weft-thread, 8, of such ply between warpthread 7 a and the next one,'7 then extends reversely outward across warp-threads 7, 7; then loops around the projecting end of the third weft-thread, 8", of the ply; then extends inward across warp-threads, 7, 7 again; then is engaged by interlooping with the fourth weft-thread, and so on. The interlooping of the overedging or whipthreads with the projecting ends of the weftthreads 8, 8, etc., has a tendency to bend such ends slightly out of the planes of the two layers or plies of the web-strip, as shown clearly in. Figs. 3, 4 and 5. In Figs. 3 and 4 all of the projecting weft-ends are represented as bent upward in the case'of the upper layer or ply and downward in the case of the lower layer or ply, in order that the splits and the manner in which the overedging or whip-threads interloop with the projecting ends of weft 8, 8, etc., may appear more clearly.

The method of manufacture which is one part or feature of the invention involves a procedure by which, as illustrated in Fig. 2, a number of pocketed web-strips 1, 1, etc., having splits 2, 2, in their thickness pro ducing loops or pockets, and marginally bound by overedging or whip-threads 6, 6, at the free edges of both layers or plies of such loops or pockets, are woven simultaneously side by side in a loom, as parts of one wide preliminary carrier-web, the latter be ing the third part or feature of the invention. The said preliminary carrier-web has thin spacesl 1*, etc., extending longitudinally of the same. Such thin spaces are produced between the individual web-strips,

and between the extreme mar inal portions of the preliminary carrier-web and the adjacent web-strips, by omitting a small number of Warp-threads at each of such places. The spaces created by the omission of war threads are crossed by the weft-threads, which join the web-strips and said marginal portions to one another transversely. In the weaving operation, the same shed is opened in the warps of all the web-strips at the same time, and the shuttle is thrown entirely through from one edge of the preliminarv carrier-web to the other thereof,

so that the weaving of all the web-strips progresses simultaneously and uniformly, without requiring a separate shuttle or shuttles for every web-strip. Consequently, a carrier-web comprising a large number of pocketed web-strips may be woven in a loom of ordinary width needing at the most the attention of only a single weaver, whereas for the simultaneous production of a corresponding number of pocketed web-strips Woven in the manner heretofore usual a number of special looms, occupying much more floor-space, calling for the expenditure of a much greater amount of power, and attended by several weavers, would be required. The preliminary carrier-web is essentially a multi-ply web or fabric in which the upper and lower layers or plies are separate and distinct at intervals, making successive splits in its thickness by which loops or pockets are produced, and having longitudinal thin places separating the web into narrow longitudinal divisions each of a width suitable for a carrier, and further having the warp-threads of the upper and lower layers or plies bound by overedging or whip-threads at both sides of a thin place.

The preliminary carrier-web may be rolled or folded for convenience in storage and transportation. Fig. 2 shows a roll thereof having the outer end of the web partly unrolled and extended so as to show the longitudinal thin places.

The preliminary carrier-web is separated into individual narrow webs by cutting along the longitudinal thin places so as to sever the portions of weft which transversely bridge such places. This may be done by means of convenient cutters or knives, either in the loom as the woven web is drawn forward by the take-up mechanism of the loom, or after the removal of the woven web from the loom. The narrow selvage-strips 1, 1, ordinarily will be discarded. If the carrier-web is removed from the loom in which it has been woven, without having first been divided up into individual pocketed web-strips, the dividing operation may be performed at any con venient time Or place, and by any approved means.

For use with cartridges which are of less diameter at their bullet-ends than at the by the bullets and the contracted mouth- Jill ltd

ortions of the shells. The shoulders 11, 1, ig. 1, produced by the difference in diameter serve as stops to limit the extent to which the cartridges may be pushed into the loops or pockets. The weaving operation forms these shoulders in one line throughout the length of a carrier, so that uniformity is insured in the positions of the successive cartridges of the series applied to the carrier. The overedging or binding of the two layers or plies at the ends of the slit-forming loops or pockets may be effected in practice in other ways than that illustrated in the drawings. I claim as my invention 1. A. woven pocketed carrier consisting of an integral web-strip having loops or 7 pockets constituted by a succession of openings in its thickness extending transversely across its width, and having the weft or filling in short lengths, with the ends thereof bound by woven threads to prevent fraying or ravelmg.

2. A woven pocketed carrier consisting of an integral we strip having loops or pockets constituted by a succession of openings in its thickness extending transversely across its width, and having the weft or filling in short lengths, by overedging or whip-threads that prevent frayin or raveling.

3. T e method of manufacturing pocketed carriers which consists in weaving a series of web-strips simultaneously side by'side by means of weft-threads extending from side to side of such series so as to join the different-web-strips together transversely in a wide preliminary multiply web or fabric, so conwith the ends thereof boundducting the weaving that the plies shall be separate and distinct at intervals in the length of the web,thusmaking successive splits in the thickness of the web and thereby producing loops or pockets, and then dividing the said preliminary web longitudinally between the respective web-strips and thereby separating the latter from one another, producing a plurality of woven pocketed carriers.

4. The method of manufacturing pocketed carriers which consists in weaving a series of Web-strips simultaneously side by side by means of weft-threads extending from side to side of such series so as to join the different web-strips together transversely in a wide preliminary multiply web or fabric, so conducting the weaving that the plies shall be separate and distinct at intervals in the length of the web, thus making successive splits in the thickness of the web and thereby producing loops or pockets, and also so that the marginal warp-threads of the respective layers or plies shall be bound above and below the said splits-to prevent fraying or raveling, and then dividing the said preliminary web longitudinally between the bound marginal warp-threads of one web strip and those of the adjoining web-strips, thereby separating the said web-strips from one.another and producing a plurality of woven ocketed carriers.

5. The carrier-Web comprising a multiply web or fabric in which the plies are separate and distinct at intervals, making successive transverse splits in its thickness producing loops or pockets, and having longitudinal thin places separating the web into narrow longitudinal divisions each of a width suitable for a carrier, and further having the warp-threads of both the upper and the lower layers bound by overedging or whip-threads at both sides of a thin place.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of'a witness.

CHARLES F. RANDALL.

Witness:

ELLEN 0. SPRING. 

